This thesis describes longitudinal nuclear relaxation measurements of solid 129Xe near 77 K with previously unattainable reproducibility, and demonstrates differences in relaxation, dependent upon the way in which the solid is condensed. These results are directly applicable to the generation and storage of large quantities of hyperpolarized 129Xe... more...

Neutrinos can arguably be labeled as the most fascinating elementary particles known as their small but non-zero rest mass points to new mass generating mechanisms beyond the Standard Model, and also assigns primordial neutrinos from the Big Bang a distinct role in shaping the evolution of large-scale structures in the universe. The open question of... more...

During the past century, world-wide energy consumption has risen dramatically, which leads to a quest for new energy sources. Fusion of hydrogen atoms in hot plasmas is an attractive approach to solve the energy problem, with abundant fuel, inherent safety and no long-lived radioactivity. However, one of the limits on plasma performance is due to the... more...

The past decade has seen a remarkable increase in the use of electron microscopy as a researm tool in biology and medicine. Thus, most institu­ tions of higher learning now boast several electron optical laboratories having various levels of sophistication. Training in the routine use of elec­ tron optical equipment and interpretation of results is... more...

In 1984 Desmond O?Connor and David Phillips published their comprehensive book ?Time-correlated Single Photon Counting?. At that time time-correlated s- gle photon counting, or TCSPC, was used primarily to record fluorescence decay functions of dye solutions in cuvettes. From the beginning, TCSPC was an am- ingly sensitive and accurate technique with... more...

This volume of the Selected Papers from Portugal is a product of the Seventeenth Congress of the Portuguese Statistical Society, held at the beautiful resort seaside city of Sesimbra, Portugal, from September 30 to October 3, 2009. It covers a broad scope of theoretical, methodological as well as application-oriented articles in domains such as: Linear... more...